THEATRE: ORANGE FLOWER WATER
Review By Duncan McLeod
Director: Byron Kane
Cast: Megan Alston, Joseph Del Re, Sebastian Goldspink and Amy Mathews
Synopsis: Two married couples live with their children in relative bliss … until two of them begin a passionate affair.
Penned by Six Feet Under co-writer Craig Wright, Orange Flower Water is a dark, funny, and ultimately life-affirming examination of the cruelties people inflict on the ones they love – or once loved – in order to stay alive.
Darlinghurst Theatre Company is pleased to welcome back Stella Green Productions, the award winning team behind last year’s revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce.
Examining the racier side of human behaviour, the Stella Green team will deliver a production brimming with humanity that reveals the desperation behind the difficult choices we all face in life.
Review: Any material from the mind of a co-writer of SIX FEET UNDER is automatically laboured with a handicap straight out of the box. There is a weight of expectation that the dialogue will be well formed, faced and executed. For the most part the dialogue here was engaging and emotional. The four actors involved were uniquely different if not totally fleshed out and engaging themselves. The flow of the piece had relative symmetry and a narrative. It was not all entirely fluid though. There were disjointed scenes that detracted from the overall tone of the performance.
The set design was simplistic and functional. The story revolved around an affair so it made sense that the action revolved around a bed. The musical score was not memorable enough to recall at time of writing so doesn’t bare a mention.
Director Byron Kane did a good job with the material and the space. The actors don’t give stellar performances, though of the four, the stand out is Amy Matthews who manages to shroud her beauty on stage and delivers a telling performance that allows her character to connect with the audience. Sebastian Goldspink was the other actor who played what was almost a Serbian soccer-dad but not quite, and that was his character’s undoing. The character had potential to be more than what was written or delivered, but fell sadly short. The fault lies in no singular person’s camp however as this reviewer feels it was a combination of both script and actor.
There is a lot of reality in this piece and much for the audience to connect with. There just was not enough emotion all round to have a lasting impact on this reviewer. The journey though is fraught with exhilarating danger.
